Middleweight Mario Miranda signs new four-fight deal with UFC

The Brazilian middleweight recently signed a new four-fight contract with the promotion and is aiming to return in the first quarter of 2011, his co-manager, Shy Sadis, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In the meantime, Miranda (12-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) plans to return to his home country as he awaits an opportunity for redemption after a recent setback.

When the UFC offered him a major step up in competition for his most recent booking, it wasn’t under ideal circumstances. He had less than a month to prepare for a fight against Demian Maia at UFC 118 – Maia was re-booked for the Aug. 28 event after his original opponent, Alan Belcher, was forced to withdraw from their headliner at UFC Fight Night 22 – and was soundly outpointed on the judges’ scorecards.

Miranda, who signed with the promotion in early 2010 with an undefeated ledger, also met disappointment in his octagon debut when he took on Gerald Harris at UFC Fight Night 21. Although Miranda proved strong early in the fight, Harris caught him with a hail of punches that set in motion his first professional loss.

But Miranda also impressed earlier this year when he met David Loiseau at UFC 115 and dominated the former UFC middleweight contender en route to a second-round TKO victory.

Despite an uneven octagon resume, Miranda holds a notable career victory over current welterweight standout Rick Story (in an outside promotion) and has won the majority of his fights by stoppage due to strikes.

Over the summer, the soft-spoken fighter was taken under the wing of middleweight champion Anderson Silva. He trained with the pound-for-pound great as he prepared for Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 and Miranda prepped for his own fight with Maia.

Although Silva had better luck in his fight – down four rounds to nil, the champ pulled off a Hail Mary triangle choke in the title fight’s fifth round – Miranda undoubtedly picked up a few good pointers. Now, it’s key for him to show what he’s learned when he next sets foot inside the octagon.